WILMSLOW-based Four Seasons Health Care is poised for a £350m US deal which will put it in the number one spot, as the largest operator of care homes in the UK.

The £100m-plus turnover company, which has its head office on Alderley Road, currently operates 110 care homes and several specialised care centres, across England, Scotland and Ireland, employing over 8,000 staff.

But the deal will put it in control of 18,300 beds in over 400 care homes across the country.

The intention is to acquire Omega Worldwide, a US based company and Principal Healthcare Finance Limited, a Jersey based company, in which Omega has a 33 per cent share. Omega owns Idun Healthcare, an operator of 7,000 beds across the UK.

The companies, have been going through troubled times, and Four Seasons chief executive Hamilton Anstead confidently expects shareholders to want to cut their losses and approve the deal in September. He says Four Seasons has already secured 40 per cent of the required 50.1 per cent acceptance needed.

Mr Anstead stressed the change would not cause any upheaval for residents. He told manchesteronline: "I am delighted with this transaction, which makes Four Seasons the dominant force in care homes in the UK. This deal is good for the sector, good for the people we care for and good for our employees."

The care home sector generally has been going through difficult times recently. Tighter building regulations and the level of social services funding has forced many, especially smaller independent homes, to close.